A family of Swords
by One Piecer4844
Summary: Sanji meets his green haired neighbor and three sons from the floor above him Bad at summaries but it is worth giving it a shot... hopefully


The restaurant had been packed tonight and Sanji was exhausted. It was his turn to open the restaurant this time and had to be there at 5:00 am to prepare the kitchen and his shift wouldn't end until 2:00. Then had ended up covering for his co-worker when she had said she couldn't make it due to feeling ill. Of course Sanji couldn't let one of his beautiful ladies be on her feet when she was feeling unwell so he covered for her, unfortunately her shift ended at 6:30 pm. Now his feet were slightly regretting his decision, he had spent all day on his feet cooking and waiting on the customers when he was covering for her, but what was done was done. All he really wanted to do was soak in the tub sipping some wine, and then sleep until noon tomorrow since it was his day off.

First though he had to get home, it hasn't been long since he moved to some apartments close to work, it had been about six months living there and about two years since he came back from studying abroad in France. He had been living with his foster father the first year and a half since coming back and had been saving up money working from his restaurant, The Baratie, to move out and get his own place. He had stumbled across the apartments by accident one night, and was glad to have found a place that was near work and was affordable. It was an added plus that the buildings were in good condition in a decent area of the city.

A slight smile settled on his face as he neared home, already imagining his sore muscles relaxing after a nice soak, and ridding himself of the smells of fish from working in the kitchen all day. As he neared his room number he noticed a lump next to his door way, as he drew closer he realized it was a child, asleep against the wall. Sanji was puzzled and stopped to study the child for a second, as if noticing a set of eyes on him, the child rose his head from his knees and set an oddly intimidating gaze on Sanji. A slight gasp left Sanji's mouth and he stood frozen, captivated by the odd boy's stare.  
Sanji really didn't know what to make of this situation, the large startling gold eyes were gazing at him with such intensity, and it unnerved him since they were coming from such a small person. The child made no movement and just continued to look at Sanji, the blinks and the slight rise of his chest was all that told Sanji that they boy wasn't a statue of some sort.

He looked around to see if the kid belonged to anyone, or if anyone was searching for him, but there was sign of none. He turned back toward the child only to see that he had tilted his head and for some reason now wore an expectant look on his face. Sanji was confused at what the boy was expecting him to do, and he slowly took in the boy's appearance; his hair was so lightly colored that it almost looked white as the setting sun hit it, his large golden eyes had lost some of the intensity and were now looking at him with mild intrigue, he wore a tan hoodie and grey shorts with no shoes. He looked to be about twelve and was a little thin, but that was most likely due to age than malnourishment, he was a bit pale though.

He tore his eyes from the boy and dug his keys from his pocket, wanting to set some distance from him and the slightly ghost like kid- no kid should be that quiet or still he thought. As he was about to push open the door, from the corner of his eye he noticed the kid shoot up from the ground and look toward the curve, a smile lit up his face and he let out a short laugh. Puzzled by the sudden strange reaction Sanji was about to go through the door when two small bodies collided into him, resulting in him falling forward in a tangle of limbs, both laughing much like Luffy does when he's being mischievous.

Sanji's patience was running thin, and as he tried to stand to get the two brats off him and scold them, the two bodies were raised off of him and he was being lifted up by a firm grip on his wrist and pulled up, level to the same intense stare except now were a shade of dark green instead of gold, and on the face of a tanned man; who was now holding on to both boys with one arm and had the other one hanging from his neck.

Sanji stared wide eyed at the man, which just appeared out of nowhere, crouch down, and settled down the rambunctious boys muttering words to them in a language that he did not understand- whatever was said the boys calmed down and sat on the floor. The man stood back up to his full height, which was a good four inches taller on Sanji's 6'0; and turned toward Sanji with an outstretched hand for greeting and the other messing up his already disheveled hair that Sanji just noticed was a mossy green tone. He looked toward the hand and then back to the stranger's face that was sporting rectangular glasses rimmed only at the top, he found it odd that he would need both lenses, one of his eyes seemed to be permanently shut with a long scar over it. He snapped out of it, when he had caught himself staring too long and shook the man's hand while asking **"Are those your kids?"** Having not heard what the taller man has said. He seemed to ponder the question for a second and responded in a smooth voice **"You can say that"** while shrugging his shoulders; **"The names Zoro, I'm assuming you're the guy that moved here some months ago."** Motioning with his head toward my apartment and fixing his functioning eye on me, looking from head to toe and then back up that sent a small shiver up my spine, that I tried to hide by leaning on the opposite wall and asking " **So, you've lived here long? I don't remember seeing any of you around, especially the kids."** Zoro gave a nod and stuffed his hands in his pockets, " **Yea… My shift usually ends around 8:30, and I go pick up the boys so we're usually not home till late. Usually I have to carry these two to bed since they fall asleep on the way"** He signaled toward the two younger of the three, a black haired kid that looked to be about ten with sleepy blue eyes with a navy blue hoodie and denim shots; and a small red head about seven years old also looking pretty tired with the way he kept rubbing his pale grey eyes with the sleeve of his sweater. **"Sorry about the boys, these two can be trouble makers when they want to, usually they stay away from people though."** He picked them up, one in each arm, while the eldest of the three jumped on his back, holding on to his neck- Zoro didn't even seems to notice the extra weight and allowed the boy to readjust until he was settled comfortably on his back. **"This one is usually pretty calm, he tends to behave most of the time, but these two rascals are a bad influence on him"** he explained in a mock scolding tone, but Sanji could still identify the undertone of affection from the man, and noticed the slight smile as he glanced at the boys.

The red haired child spoke once more in their own language which led to Zoro picking him up into his arms allowing the boy to rest his head on his shoulder. The kid let out a muffled yawn into the greenette's neck and nuzzled his face against his supposed father. Sanji would forever deny that the image sent a burst of warmth within him. He collected his thoughts and was about to respond but Zoro spoke out **"Well I better get these three to bed"** motioning with his hand to the other boy to stand and head toward their own apartment. **"Yea, so sorry about the boys again, they won't cause you any more trouble"** I shook my head and replied **"They weren't, just caught me by surprise"** Zoro just nodded his head **"Well, see you around-"** A puzzled look crossed his face, which should have looked odd with only one eye but he somehow made it look endearing. **"Sanji, and yea see ya."** Zoro sent out a two fingered salute and walked toward the stairway to the apartment above my own carrying two kids and one tailing him. I shut the door to my own apartment and pondered over my not so new recently acquainted neighbor and his kids. The thought of none of the boys held any of his features and there was a lack of any details of a mother had crossed his mind, but Sanji refused to think more into it. He let those thoughts to rest while he walked toward his bathroom already looking forward to relaxing.


End file.
